|
"The
Ultimate Tented Experience"
(Tanzania)
- 13 Days
|
This
safari not only includes all the main wildlife areas of Northern Tanzania, but
also includes little visited Lake Eyasi,
where you have the opportunity to experience a totally different aspect of a
safari.
Although there is some wildlife present, you are also at the home of
some of Tanzania's most interesting people, giving you an insight into how they
live and the cultures they have nursed whilst the western world strives with the
21st. century.
Lake
Eyasi is not a National Park, and you are thus free to walk and meet the two
tribes who are unique to the area, the Mangati and the Hadzape, both traditional
enemies of the neighbouring and more famous Masai, and who follow a different way
of life, which is more akin, in both style and language, to the Bushmen of the
Kalahari in Southern Africa. |
 |
|
Day
01 Arusha - Tarangire
National Park
Depart
Arusha after lunch and drive across the Masai Steppe and to Tarangire
National Park. South from Lake Manyara this delightful park covers an
area of 2,600 square kilometers. It is the numerous wide-bodied Baobab
trees that first attract your eye. The gently rolling countryside is
dotted with these majestic trees sometimes dwarfing the wildlife that
feeds beneath them.
The park is at its best during the traditional dry
seasons of June to October and December to March when many of the
migratory animals come to the Tarangire River for water. Wildebeest, oryx, zebra, elephant are amongst the most prolific of the animals. Depending on the game movement we shall probably camp by the side of the
Tarangire River.
Day
02
Tarangire National Park
Early
morning, morning and afternoon game drives. |
|
|
Day
03 Tarangire National Park- Lake Manyara
Early
morning game drive followed by breakfast, after which your crew packs up
the tenting equipment and moves on to set up again in the Lake Eyasi
area, and you move on to a permanent camp on the rim of the Great Rift
Valley. From
whichever direction you approach Lake Manyara, you get a spectacular
view
Approaching from the east the Great Rift Valley wall forms an
impressive backdrop to the Lake. From the west, with a pause at the top
of the escarpment, the park lies below, a green strip beside a
glistening lake. Lake
Manyara National Park covers an area of 330 square kilometers, of which
about two thirds is the lake itself, and the rest is forest, acacia
woodland and some grasslands by the lake shore.
The wildlife can be
migratory between Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park across the
lake, but you should see elephant, hippo, Cape buffalo, giraffe, several
species of primate and antelope, and prolific birdlife.
Dinner and overnight at Kirurumu, a comfortable camp with twenty tents
located on top of the escarpment overlooking the park. |
 |
|
|
Day
04 Lake Manyara
National Park - Kirurumu Tented Camp
In
the morning there is a trek with a Masai naturalist guide along the rim
of the escarpment where you would anticipate stunning views down to the
park below, and across the Masai Steppe. The naturalist will explain to
you the geological phenomenon of the Great Rift Valley, as well as
indicating rare plants, butterflies, birds etc. After lunch at Kirurumu,
you continue with an afternoon game drive in the Park.
|
 |
|
Day
05 Lake Manyara National
Park- Lake Eyasi
Leave
after breakfast and drive to Lake Eyasi, situated south west of the
Ngorongoro Conservation area below the Eyasi Rift Escarpment, and reached
via Karatu village and then along a bumpy and dusty road. At Lake Eyasi
only one campsite is available and this is situated in an acacia forest,
with a freshwater spring emerging from the center of the camp.
At
Lake Eyasi, despite the fact that there is some wildlife present, the
emphasis is on meeting with some of Africa's most interesting people who
have been secluded and protected from the " progress " of the
twenty first century. There are two tribes who are unique to this area;
the Mangati and the Hadzape.
|
 |
| The
Mangati are a tall, brave, nomadic people who are the traditional enemies
of the Masai, living in similar huts and following similar traditions and
rituals. The Hadzape people are very different to their Mangati neighbours,
as they are traditional bushmen and much smaller, and speak the click
language associated with the Kalahari bushmen of Southern Africa. Unlike
the pastoral Mangati, the Hadzape are hunters with bows and arrows. During
your stay at Lake Eyasi your guide will take you walking through the area
until you come across one of the temporary settlements, where you will be
able to join in the tribes people's activities, either hunting for birds
or a warthog, or to the lakeshore to collect poisons.
If there is a
ceremony or party taking place you will probably be asked to take
part!
Due to the fact that these people have managed to maintain their
cultures and beliefs for such a long time we are very careful not to
confuse them with unaccustomed gifts etc., and instead we usually
bring them food and make a small community
donation each time we are privileged to camp in their area. Day
06 Lake Eyasi
A full
day of activity with the Mangati and Hadzape tribes. |
 |
|
|
Day
07 Lake Eyasi -
Ngorongoro Crater
Late
morning leave Lake Eyasi and drive to Ngorongoro Serena Lodge arriving for
lunch. " It is impossible to give a fair
description of the size and beauty of the Crater, for there is nothing
with which one can compare it. It is one of the Wonders of the
World." This is how the Crater is described by Bernard Grzimek in his
classic "Serengeti Shall Not
Die". The
area is given over to Wildlife Conservation and comprises 8300 square kilometers
of which the Crater is 260 square kilometers, and consists of grasslands,
swamps, forests, rivers, and even an arid area of shifting dunes. The
Crater supports a year round resident population of varied wildlife, and
as the game is concentrated into a relatively small area you are likely to
see lion, elephant, hyena, jackal, cheetah, the very rare Black rhino,
primates and many more. The area is also home to the proud and colorful
Masai tribe.
Lunch, dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge.
|
 |
|
|
Day
08 Ngorongoro Crater
After
an early breakfast you descend into the Crater in a 4 x 4 vehicle for a
full day of game viewing with a picnic lunch taken on the Crater floor.
Late afternoon you leave the Crater drive back to the lodge for dinner and
overnight. Day
09 Ngorongoro Crater -
Serengeti National Park
Leave
after breakfast and drive via Ol Duvai Gorge to the Serengeti National
Park, arriving for lunch and an afternoon game drive. The
Gorge is about 50 kilometers long and in some places 90 meters deep.
Commonly heralded as the " Cradle of Mankind" it was made famous
by the discovery in 1959 of the remains of early man. Your stop includes a
visit to the small museum overlooking the Gorge. The Serengeti National
Park. is one of the most popular and spectacular game areas in East
Africa, covering an area of 14,765 square kilometers, teaming with game.
|
 |
|
A
particular feature of the Serengeti is the annual migration of the
wildebeest and zebra herds. Each year, after the traditional " short
" rains in November the migration starts when the herds amass in
their thousands on the plains below the Ngorongoro highlands. During
February they move north and west following the rains and the new
grasslands and they start to move into the Masai Mara in July. In October
they move back to Tanzania. This annual phenomenon involves more than 1.5
million animals, including the lion and other predators who follow the
herds for easy pickings.
The
whole process affects the lives of thousands of other species that rely on
the passage of the migration for their survival, even the insects, not to
mention the trees and plants, which rely on the droppings for their fertilization.
Dinner and
overnight at your mobile camp. |
|
|
|
Day
10 Serengeti National
Park
Morning
and afternoon game drives.
Day
11 Serengeti National Park
Morning
and afternoon game drives Day
12 Serengeti National Park
Morning
and afternoon game drives.
Day
13 Serengeti National
Park- Arusha
Morning
scheduled service flight [one hour approximately] from Seronera to
Arusha, and transfer for your ongoing or homeward arrangements. |
 |
|
|
|
|
2009 RATES
Departures Daily
|
USD 7,456 per person sharing
(Operates with a minimum of 2 passengers) |
African Safari
Consultants
TOLL FREE 1-866-733-4263
(1-866-SEE-GAME)
|